The use of conventional fasteners to couple multiple elements of a system together is well-known. However, conventional fasteners such as a threaded bolt and nut combination tend to fail in extreme ambient conditions. For example, a steel mill or foundry typically has extreme ambient conditions because the mechanical devices such as steel pots for holding molten steel must withstand extremely high temperatures and highly corrosive environment while forming and working with molten steel. Generally, the steel pot is coupled to a support cradle that supports and drives the steel pot to tip and pour out molten steel when required. A funnel-like lid is often coupled to the steel pot to enable accurate pouring of molten steel. Each of the lid and the support cradle are coupled to the steel pot conventionally with threaded bolts and double nuts. The threaded bolts and double nuts are generally successful in keeping these elements fastened together.
However, in the extreme high temperatures and corrosive environment around the steel pot, the bolts and double nuts tend to fuse to one another or corrode to a point where the nuts are no longer removable from the threaded bolts. Consequently, when the lid needs to be removed from the steel pot or the steel pot needs to be removed from the cradle, the bolts must be removed with a cutting torch. The conventional threaded bolts used for both connections are at least 4 inches in diameter, and cutting through 4 inch bolts takes a significant amount of time and energy. Consequently, the steel pot must be taken out of commission for a significant period of downtime nearly every time the lid or the cradle is disconnected from the steel pot. Additionally, this deficiency has led some steel mill operators to use a minimum number of conventional fasteners to couple these elements together, which can lead to serious safety hazards if any of the fasteners fails in operation.
Therefore, it would be desirable to improve the fasteners used in such extreme ambient conditions and address some of the problems with conventional fasteners.